A Manhattanite in Butler County, Ohio: Where to Shop?

The third part of our travel series in Butler County, Ohio focuses on all the amazing places one can go to for a fabulous shopping experience. We already gave you all the delicious places to dine and dish at while in this amazing area of the Midwest (see part one here and part two here), and now its time to pack up the car and drop some dough on a variety of items that will make your luggage even heavier upon airport arrival.

Credit: Todd Joyce

Liberty Center: 7100 Foundry Row, Liberty Township

Who doesn’t love a superb shopping experience every once in a while? Liberty Center was definitely one of the highlights of my trip to Butler County, as it brought me back to my days of growing up in the suburbs with its array of restaurants, stores, events and so much more, all located right off I-75.

The suburbs reference is strictly due to the amount of malls that surrounded the area that I lived in (there isn’t necessarily a “mall” of sorts in Manhattan, outside of the one right by Penn Station). Liberty Center is massive, like HUGE, and provides shoppers with every single type of store you could imagine that is available at your disposal.

They also have a ton of restaurants to dine at during your exhausting shopping trip, including national spots like Cheesecake Factory and more local ones including Lotus Pad and Pies & Pints. They also host a ton of fabulous events, including several happy hours, yoga series and so much more. If you are looking to enjoy a day out solo or with friends and get some major shopping in, then Liberty Center is for you. More info here.

Credit: Gaylon Wampler

Jungle Jim’s International Market: 5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield

Who would’ve thought that a supermarket would’ve been on a travel itinerary of sorts… its madness! Jungle Jim’s, however, is worth highlighting as this is no ordinary food experience. It’s more like if a local supermarket met Willy Wonka, a mad scientist and that show Supermarket Sweep all in one amazing location, as its colorful and whimsical persona was seen throughout.

Jungle Jim’s boasts more than 200,000 square feet inside its massive location, where they highlight every single type of cuisine you can imagine in ways that I have never seen before. Elements to this place that I loved seeing were the rooms that housed ingredients from a specific region (Spain, Morocco, etc) as well as the variety of displays that were seen throughout the store (the corn and butter statue that greets you right when you walk in was truly a trip). They also have an “award-winning” bathroom which looks like a simple porta potty when you see it, but when you open the doors you find that the bathroom itself is huge. It’s little details like this that make the experience so much more interesting. More info here.

Part four, which will be the final part in our travel series in Butler County, will highlight all the unique places you can go to while visiting there. Check back for that feature next Monday! More info here.